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Anvil Creek

Past Producer in Alaska, United States with commodities Gold, Silver, Mercury
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Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10101005
MRDS ID A015012
Record type Site
Current site name Anvil Creek
Related records 10160699

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -156.50547, 63.12722 (WGS84)
Relative position Anvil Creek is a 2.5-mile-long, northeast-flowing tributary to the Innoko River; the junction of Anvil Creek and the Innoko River is approximately 1 mile southeast of the town of Ophir. The coordinates are for the mine marked on the U.S. Geological Survey Ophir A-2 topographic map (1954, minor revisions 1965), in the SE 1/4SE 1/4 sec. 23, T. 27 S., R. 12 E., Kateel River Meridian. Anvil Creek is locality 15 of Cobb (1972 [MF 367]). The location is accurate within 500 feet.
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Geographic areas

Country State
United States Alaska

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Gold Primary
Silver Secondary
Mercury Secondary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Cinnabar Ore
Gold Ore

Mineral occurrence model information

Model code 119
USGS model code 39a
BC deposit profile C01. C02
Deposit model name Placer Au-PGE
Mark3 model number 54

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Unconsolidated Deposit > Gravel

Nearby scientific data

(1) -156.50547, 63.12722
ListMap

Comments on the geologic information

  • Geologic Description = The rocks in the vicinity of Anvil Creek are sandstone, shale, and siltstone (Chapman and others, 1985). The creek probably also drains a small, Cretaceous or Tertiary intrusive body.? the gold in Anvil Creek occurs in a narrow paystreak in stream gravels and in less-rich bench deposits. The gold was found on bedrock surfaces and in crevices within the upper 6 inches of bedrock. The largest nugget reported from Anvil Creek was 6 ounces. The nuggets have a fineness of 878 parts gold and 117 parts silver (Mertie, 1936). Mertie (1936) also reports considerable cinnabar in concentrates.? Gold was discovered along Anvil Creek in 1917. Production occurred intermittently in Anvil Creek until 1950, and intermittently from the 1970's until at least 1986 (Brooks and Capps, 1924; Smith, 1932; Smith, 1936; Smith, 1938; Mertie, 1936; Roehm, 1937; Fowler, 1950).? An unnamed 'pup' tributary of Anvil Creek runs parallel to Anvil Creek and then enters an old oxbow on the south side of the Innoko River. This tributary was staked in 1980 and reportedly contains about 4 feet of gravel under 6 feet of mud. Although no coarse gold has been found, many grains of fine gold were recovered (Dick Forsgren, written commun., 2001).? Bundtzen and Miller (1997) used radioactive-isotope dating techniques to demonstrate that the age of hydrothermal sericite from the Ophir-Little Creek prospect area is 70 Ma, contemporaneous with primary igneous white mica in dikes near Ophir. Lode gold mineralization in this area probably is related to magmatic fluids from these Upper Cretaceous or Tertiary dikes (or other, coeval plutons), which probably are the source of at least some of the placer gold in Anvil Creek (Bundtzen and Miller, 1997).
  • Age = Quaternary. Bundtzen and Miller (1997) used radioactive-isotope dating techniques to demonstrate that the age of hydrothermal sericite from the Ophir-Little Creek prospect area is 70 Ma, contemporaneous with primary igneous white mica in dikes near Ophir. Lode gold mineralization in this area probably is related to magmatic fluids from these Upper Cretaceous or Tertiary dikes (or other, coeval plutons), which probably are the source of at least some of the placer gold in Anvil Creek (Bundtzen and Miller, 1997).

Economic information

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Metallic

Mining district

District name Innoko

Comments on the production information

  • Production Notes = Between 1917 and 1950, an estimated 3,394 ounces of gold and 12 ounces of silver were produced from Anvil Creek. Anvil Creek was also mined from the 1970's until at least 1986 (Bundtzen and others, 1987).

Comments on the workings information

  • Workings / Exploration = A narrow paystreak beneath the channel of Anvil Creek was worked by drift mining; less-rich bench deposits were worked by open cuts (Mertie, 1936). Mining occurred along Anvil Creek from 1917 to 1950 and also from the 1970's until at least 1986 (Bundtzen and others, 1987).

Reference information

Links to other databases

Agency Database name Acronym Record ID Notes
USGS Mineral Resources Data System MRDS A015012
USGS Alaska Resource Data File ARDF OP025

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    Brooks, A.H. and Capps, S.R., 1924, Mineral industry in Alaska, 1922: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 755, p. 1-56.

  • Deposit

    Smith, P.S., 1932, Mineral industry of Alaska in 1929, in Smith, P.S., and others Mineral resources of Alaska, report on progress of investigations in 1929: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 824-A, p. 1-81.

  • Deposit

    Mertie, J.B., Jr., 1936, Mineral deposits of the Ruby-Kuskokwim region, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 864-C, 115-245.

  • Deposit

    Smith, P.S., 1936, Mineral industry in Alaska in 1934: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 868-A, p. 1-91.

  • Deposit

    Smith, P.S., 1938, Mineral industry of Alaska in 1936: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 897-A, p. 1-107.

  • Deposit

    Cobb, E.H., 1972, Metallic mineral resources map of the Ophir quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Field Studies Map MF-367, 1 sheet, scale 1:250,000.

  • Deposit

    Cobb, E.H., 1973, Placer deposits of Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 1374, 213 p.

  • Deposit

    Cobb, E.H., 1976, Summary of references to mineral occurrences (other than mineral fuels and construction material) in the Iditarod and Ophir quadrangles, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 76-576, 101 p.

  • Deposit

    Chapman, R.M., Patton, W.W., and Moll, E.J., 1985, Reconnaissance geologic map of the Ophir quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 85-203, 1 sheet, 1:250,000 scale.

  • Deposit

    Bundtzen, T.K., Green, C.B., Deagen, J., and Daniels, C.L., 1987, Alaska's mineral industry, 1986: Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys, Special Report 40, 68 p.

  • Deposit

    Bundtzen, T.K., and Miller, M.L., 1997, Precious metals associated with Late Cretaceous-early Tertiary igneous rocks of southwestern Alaska, in Goldfarb, R.J., and Miller, L.D., eds., Economic Geology Monograph #9, Mineral Deposits of Alaska, p. 242-286.

  • Deposit

    Fowler, H.M., 1950, Report of investigations in the Innoko, Nulato, Bethel, Goodnews Bay, Wasilla, Chisana, and Ketchikan mining districts: Alaska Territorial Department of Mines Itinerary Report 195-7, 13 p.

  • Deposit

    Roehm, J.C., 1937, Summary report of mining investigations in the Innoko, Mt. McKinley, Knik, and Talkeetna precincts: Alaska Territorial Department of Mines Itinerary Report 195-17, 16 p.

Comments on the references

  • Primary Reference = Mertie, 1936

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit Model Name = Placer Au (Cox and Singer, 1986; model 39a)

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 07-AUG-01 Cameron, C.E. Northern Associates Inc.